As European settlers came to the region in increasing numbers, the Tuscarora became brokers of a flourishing trade in alcohol, fur, and deerskins between interior Native Country nations and the English colonies on the coast. Lahore Metro Map The establishment of New Bern in 1709 by Baron Christophe von Graffenried and his many followers posed a serious new threat to Tuscarora power in the region.
Like other tribes, the Tuscarora had been subjected to abuses by traders operating out of Virginia and South Carolina. They were often cheated and occasionally captured and sold into slavery, particularly by natives in league with the traders at Charles Town. By 1711, the Tuscarora had had enough, and they struck back violently. In the initial stages of the war, the Tuscarora scored two decisive victories.
They were able to capture John Lawson, surveyor general of Carolina, and the Baron von Graffenried himself. Although de Graffenried bargained for his life, Lawson quarreled with one of the Tuscarora leaders, Core Tom, and was put to death. The first swift attack took the lives of more than 100 English and German colonists and threw all of North Carolina into disarray. North Carolina, with few white settlers and a weak military, called on South Carolina and Virginia for assistance.
